Name: The Age of Empathy
Rating: 4.2 (76 reviews)
Author: Frans de Waal

What’s in it for me? Discover the universal empathy of humanity.

Throughout history, authors, philosophers, as well as political and religious leaders – have told us to be wary of the evil at the core of human nature. People are egotistical, these thinkers claim, always searching to improve their position, regardless of the negative impact their actions have on others. The atrocities of war and genocide seem to bear out such assertions. But what if this is just a small part of the story?

What if the things that have kept us alive and evolving are empathy and connection to our fellow humans? What if, instead of a desire to kill other people, what really drives soldiers to enlist is a desire to belong? Let’s explore these possibilities and take a closer look at the empathy within us all.

In these blinks, you’ll learn

the real reason the walls of Jericho were built;
what herd instinct is and how it has affected our evolution; and
how to tell that a couple has been together for a long time.

There is a popular but misguided tendency to view human nature as inherently selfish.

The idea that human nature is fundamentally selfish is widespread. Even pop culture propagates this idea: “Greed is good,” proclaims Michael Douglas’s character in the 1987 movie, Wall Street. “Greed is right. Greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit.”

Ideas like this are popular in both cultural and political theory, and they’ve kept alive the myth that humanity is inherently self-centered.

This notion is also backed up by the theory of Social Darwinism. Introduced by nineteenth-century British political philosopher Herbert Spencer, it offers a “survival of the fittest” outlook on life between the “haves” and the “have-nots.”

Social Darwinism further suggests that it’s counterproductive for those who succeed in life to feel obligated to help, as they can get dragged down by those who are struggling.

This kind of ideology has found its way into the business world as well.

For example, in the early twentieth century, business tycoon John D. Rockefeller, Jr., regarded the expansion of big business at the expense of smaller businesses as “merely the working out of a law of nature.”

These are all misunderstandings of human nature and are especially dangerous when they fuel self-fulfilling prophecies.

We saw this in the notorious case of ENRON, an energy company that believed humanity was driven by two things: fear and greed. This created a horrible corporate environment as well as a brutal system ENRON called Rank and Yank, in which managers ranked employees on a five-point scale and fired anyone who received a five. This system led to 20 percent of the workforce being fired every year.

ENRON’s cold-blooded practices extended beyond employee relations, too. In order to raise the price of energy costs, the company caused artificial blackouts and shortages, showing no concern for the harm that these tactics could cause people in elevators or on respirators.

But this cold-hearted business philosophy eventually backfired, and ENRON collapsed in 2001.

History shows that war and violence haven’t always been part of the human experience.

Winston Churchill, the famous British Prime Minister, once said, “The story of the human race is War. Except for brief and precarious interludes, there has never been peace in the world; and before history began, murderous strife was universal and unending.” But how much truth is there in this point of view?

A closer look at science and history shows that warfare was once not as pervasive as you might think.

It is natural for humans to bond with one another as it leads to longer and happier lives.

There’s a reason why solitary confinement is considered one of the worst punishments short of death. It can be so difficult to endure that some confined inmates will cause trouble just so they can interact with the guards.

So, it’s another misunderstanding of history to suggest that society is the creation of autonomous beings.

When we deny our natural instincts to be nurturing, it can have tragic consequences.

How much control do you think you have over your own decisions, impulses and desires? It might be tempting to believe that we can choose what is best for us, an outlook encapsulated in a theory called behaviorism, which regards the human mind as a blank slate that we have complete control over.

John Watson, the father of behaviorism, attempted to prove his philosophy by experimenting on a little boy named Albert.

Key ideas in The Age of Empathy

What is The Age of Empathy about?

The Age of Empathy (2009) debunks popular theories which suggest that human nature is inherently selfish, cut-throat and prone to violence. Evidence provided by biology, history and science makes clear that cooperation, peace and empathy are qualities that are as natural and innate to us as our less desirable traits.